Edgae b



(No Model.)

E. B. STOOKING..

METHOD 0]? REDUCING OLD RAILROAD RAILS TO PLATES.

No. 339,118. at nted Mar. 30, 1886;

WIT/V 8858:

UNTTnn STATES ATET Fries,

EDGAR B. STOOKIN G, OF WVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

METHOD OF REDUCING OLD RAILROAD-RAILS T0 PLATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,118, dated March30,1886.

Application filed February 18, 1886. Serial No. 192,338. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that. I, EDGAR B. STOCKING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invent-edcertain new and useful Improvements in the Method of Reducing OldRailroad-Rails to Plates, of which the following is aspecification,reference being had therein to the accom panying drawings.

My invention relates to an improved method of reducing railroad-railsand other forms of metal having lateral projections at opposite edges toplate metal, the object of my invention being to avoid forcing any ofthe material forming the head or flange of the rail or railsection overonto the web of said rail or railseetion, so that the plates producedfrom the rail-sections shall be free from cold-shuts and overlappingnon-welded fibers, in order that the plates produced shall behomogeneous and adapted for the production of nails and other articlesin which the fibers or grain of the metal shall be uniform, compact, andlongitudinally disposed in said articles.

Heretofore old rails have been cut into pieces or sections of aboutthree feet in length, which have been heated to a proper wOrkingpointand passed longitudinally through suitable rolls for reducing to acertain extent the lateral dimensions of the head and flange of therailsection, and then the rail-section or blank has been passed edgewisethrough plain rollers to further reduce the lateral dimensions of thehead and flange portions thereof, and finally, by passing the blanklongitudinally through plain rollers, the blank has been reduced toplate form of the desired thickness.

In the second. step of the method above set forth as having heretoforebeen practicednamely, the edgewise rolling of the blank or railsection-a part of the head or of the flange portion is forced over ontothe web portion of the same, producing what is known as a coldshut ornon-welded overlap in the blank. It has been attempted to overcome thisdefect by performing the edgewise rolling in rolls of unequal diameters,and by reversing the blank between succeeding passes of the same throughsaid rolls; but, even by the use of such rolls and reversals, there willbe found evidences of a slight crowding of the metal over onto the web,the metal of the head portion of the blank being slightly forced ontothe Web on one side of the rail section or blank, and the metal of theflange portion of the blank being slightly forced over onto the web onthe other side of the section or blank, so that several double passes ofthe blank through such rolls are required, together with reversals ofthe blank, whereby the edge of the blank that last emerged from therolls in one double pass shall be the first to enter the rolls in thenext succeeding double pass, in order that the overlap produced by onepass may be rolled back in the succeeding pass or passes.

By my improved step in the method of reducing old rails to plate I donot produce any overlapping of either the head or flange portion of theblank upon the web, and therefore any subsequent rolling of any overlapfrom the web is not required; so that a better product is secured, andthis by a less number of passes of the blank through the rolls. Myimproved step consists in commencing the edgewise rolling of therail-section or of the blank at or upon the web, as will hereinafter bemore specifically described.

It is apparant that after a rail-section has been longitudinally rolled,so as to reduce the lateral dimensions of its head and flange as much aspossible without forcing any of the material of either upon the web,(preliminary longitudinal rolling having longbeen practiced in the art,)any subsequent edgewise rolling which takes effect at either edge of theblank must force more or less of the material of the advancing edge uponthe web, and the object of my invention is to avoid this result, andthis I accomplish by beginning the edgewise rolling at or upon the webportion of the blank and thus compress, draw out, or roll down only thefollowing portion of the blank in the direction of its movement throughthe rolls. By this improved step it may be said that I pass through therolls the advancing edge of the blank without compressing it at the timeof or during that passage ofthe blank in which the following edge of theblank is compressed, rolled, or drawn out; or, in other words, I reduceeither the head or flange portion of the blank by beginning the reduc-IOC ll Mr l tion at or upon the web, and thus I reduce both the head andthe flange without forcing either upon the web, as both are reduced byrolling or drawing them in a direction away from the web. All of theseresults are the consequence of commencing the reduction at or upon theweb.

I have in the accompanying drawings illust-rated several different kindsof mechanism for carrying out my invention, and although I do not limitthe same to any particular mechanism foritspractice, yetforthe purposeof rendering my invention clear to persons skilled in the art referenceis had to the said drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a cross-section of anordinary railroadrail. Fig. '2 is the form herein designated as theblank, the same being shown in cross-section. Fig. 3 is a like view ofthe same blank after one of the edges of the same has been reduced. Fig.4 is a like view of the same after both the head and flange portionshave been reduced. Fig. 5 represents the blank in section,and inposition between two rolls for the reduction of its flange portion. Fig.6 is a plan of the finished plate, the dotted lines indicating the usualmannerof forming nails therefrom. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a set ofthree-high rolls adapted to reduce rail-sections to plates according tomy method. Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 1 of Fig. 7. Figs.9, 10, and 1] are modified forms of mechanism adapted to practice mymethod.

Like letters refer to like parts in all the figures, and the straightarrows indicate the direction in which the material passes through therolls, and the curved arrows indicate the direction of rotation of therolls.

A represents the head portion; B, the web portion, and O, the flangeportion ofa rail or rail-section. The rail-section is first passedlongitudinally through between the rolls D E at F, and then throughbetween the rolls E and G at H, for the purpose of reducing the lateraldimensions of the head A and flange 0 thereof, until the same shallapproximate or assume substantially the form shown in Fig. 2, which formI denominatea blank. In this instance the rolls D and E are cut away, asat D E, in order to permit of the insertion of the head portion A, orflange portion 0, edgewise between the rolls without compressing,rolling, or drawing the same, and in order that after the same shallhave been inserted, the unremoved portion of the rolls D and E maycommence their action at or upon the following flange or head portion ofthe blank and compress, roll, draw, or reduce the same in a directionaway from the web as the blank continues its passage through the rolls.Instead of cutting away portions of both rolls,D and E, a portion may beremoved from only one of a pair of rolls,as shown in Fig. 11, and, asshown in Fig. 9,a portion need not be removed from either roll.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 9 consists in mounting each of therolls eccentricallythat is, the shafts or bearings E D" of the rolls Dand E are eccentric-so that the point of the periphery of each of therolls which is at its longest radius travels in the di- I'eCiiUIl of thedotted line X, whereby, during each revolution of the rolls, the spacebetween them varies from that shown in full lines to that shown by thedotted lines Y. Now, it will be seen that during each revolution of therolls sufflcient space exists between them through which the head orflange portion of the blank may pass without being acted upon by therolls, in order that the following head or flange portion may becompressed, rolled, or drawn out in a direction from the'web portionthereof.

In Fig. 10 the rolls D and E are mounted in a frame, I, which is open,as at I, at one end of the rolls, and the roll D is mounted in avertically-reeiproeating frame, D adapted to be raised and lowered by alever, D pivoted to the frame I at D, so that the roll D maybe moved upto or dropped away from the roll E, as shown in dotted linesin saidfigure, in order to permit of the passage of the head or the flangeportion of a blank edgewise through the rolls without being acted uponthereby until the web portion of the blank is between the rolls, whenthe operator depresses the lever B, and this elevates the roll D, sothat the following head or flange portion of the blank shall be operatedupon.

The opening I of the frame-Work allows the passage of either a portionof the blank or of any tools for guiding the same through the rolls,although it is apparent that the lever D 7 may be arranged at the frontof the machine and the frame-work I be complete, and the blank passededgewise through between the rolls, as in the preceding operationsdescribed.

In Fig. 11 a roll, E, with the cut-away por tion or recess E, isarranged at the top of the series of rolls. A plain roll, D, is arrangedat the middle, and a similar roll, 0, at the bottom. A table, J, may bearranged in front of the bite of the rolls D and E, to assist inpresenting the blank to the cut-away portion of the roll E, so that onlythe following edge or flange of the blank shall be operated upon by therolls D and E, when said blank takes the direction indicated by thearrows and falls upon a return-table, K, which is inclined so as todirect said blank into the bite of the rolls D and C, from which itemerges with its following or head portion drawn out in a direction fromits web portion, after which it isrolled longitudinally to a properthickness to form a plate for a desired purpose-as, for instance, saidplate being subsequently cut, as indicated by the dotted lines Z, toform nails, (see Fig. 6,) the portions A, B, and O in said figureindicating, respectively, the head, web, and flange portions of thematerial.

Ot di ed n ment o me ha cal.

IIO

devices can be readily devised for practicing my invention; but, asbefore stated, I do not limit The same to any particular mechanism, andI should deem the provision ofother means than those herein shown anddescribed for the preliminary reduction of the rail-section to a desiredform of blank, and for the passage of the advancing edge of such blankthrough and between rolls without compression of the same, as stillbeing mechanism adapted to practice my invention.

Having described my invention and mechanism for practicing the same,what I claim 1s- 1. A step in a method of reducing old rails to plates,which consists in commencing the

